Apparently ATP and the Masters Cup organisation have yet to receive official notice of Safin's withdrawal from the tournament. The rumours of his withdrawal was announced by the Russian Tennis Federation... Safin has already booked his hotel reservations at Sheraton Hotel.

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”

At the opening ceremony of 2002 Masters Cup, the 9 players donned traditional Tang costumes which became the most significant moment back then, this costume which has a strong ‘Chinese flavour’ had the players feeling as if they hit gold as they seldom came into contact with Chinese culture. As the Chinese saying goes: Buddha relys on clothing, Man relys on gold clothing (sorry for the direct translation). 3 years later, the players will return to Shanghai, what costumes will they be donning to face the media?

According to sources, the players will still be clad in strong ethical Chinese costumes for the opening ceremony this year, but as in year 2002 the traditional Tang costume was already chosen, the possibility of choosing it again is not very big. This year it will be a revamped version of the Beijing Opera costumes, also considered an empirical robe.

The organizers revealed the clothes will be sponsored by the famous “Shanghai Tang”. This brand is already the world’s most expensive Chinese brand with its modern twist to the Chinese costumes which is its uniqueness. Currently, “Shanghai Tang” has already specially prepared 4 sets of empirical clothing, consist of a classic Chinese-style jacket, 2 pieces of Chinese-style mandarin collar slim-fitting suit and a piece of medium length leather clothing. This few sets of clothing has ‘dragon’ embroidery either on the collar or inner sleeves, thus when one folds up the collar or inner sleeves, the Chinese symbol will be clearly seen.

One set has already been confirmed as what the players will be wearing for the opening ceremony, however in order to surprise the players and also a bigger surprise to the fans world-wide, the answer will only be revealed on the actual opening ceremony. Even the tournament’s staff are kept in the dark.

As the list of players qualified for the Masters Cup are only confirmed recently, it is also impossible to wait for the list of qualifiers to be released in order to make the costumes, furthermore the designers have yet to meet the players in person, the measurements thus became a tricky issue. While ATP provided Euro and US measurements which are inaccurate, so in the end these clothing are tailor-made using the normal adult measurements. When the players arrived, they will try it on and alterations will be made accordingly.

In this year’s China Open, 3 world famous Spaniards players – Moya, Ferrero and Nadal donned on empirical robes in the Forbidden City, however “Shanghai Tang” will revamp the traditional Beijing Opera costumes to let it to have a ‘East Meets West’ effect. During the China Open, the 3 Spaniards revealed their sports attire underneath the empirical robes by a gust of strong wind. This scenario will not repeat on the Masters Cup’s opening ceremony.

Food – Meat Potluck As The Only Chinese Dish

The Masters Cup’s food at the stadium will be prepared by Hilton Hotel. Glancing through the menu list given to us by Hilton Hotel, one would feel that the players did not actually go on a food odyssey, one of the hotel’s staff said, “Because in order to adjust to the tournament’s requirements due to high burning activities, the players’ diet have to be high in protein and low in fat, thus the combination of nutritional values is much stronger than the taste.”

A few months earlier, Hilton Hotel has already begun to contact the players whom are highly possible to qualify for the Masters Cup, after gathering all the players’ preferences, and considering the needs of replenishing the nutritional values, this nutritional and delicious menu list is created.

Among them, “Italy Spaghetti category” consist of Italy spaghetti with Italian style wonton and tomato sauce, mushroom sauce or Portuguese sauce, dry Italian spaghetti and garlic bread, “Roast category” consist of roasted salmon tinged with vanilla and lemon, tandoori chicken (Indian style) with cucumber, jasmine and peppermint steamed rice. Among this, there’s also the famous Szechuan dish of meat potluck and this is also the only Chinese dish provided in the buffet. What’s surprising is that there’s only 1 choice for desserts, and that is butter cake, thus it is visible that food high in sugar and fats are not popular among the players. However, this is the basic menu list for the players’ consumption during the matches in the tournament. According to the current match schedule, the singles matches starts from 7pm; most of the players would have reached the stadium by early evening for preparations, the chances of them having their dinner at the stadium is a high possibility. If they had their lunches at the hotel or require supper after returning to the hotel, Hilton Hotel will provide more food varieties.

Lodging – Fair Treatment

Similar to year 2002, the 5-star Hilton Hotel is again the official hotel accommodation for all the players, including the 9 singles players and 9 doubles players, their families, coaches and friends will stay in “Players’ Home” specially arranged by Hilton Hotel. Maybe the players have enjoyed different accommodation privileges in the Masters Cup held in the rest of the world, however in the Shanghai Masters Cup, everyone will receive the same treatment.

A hotel staff said, “Because the hotel is unable to have similar suites, theoretically, the suites we prepared for the players are not the same, but the standard is basically the same.” From a photo of “what’s possibly could be the players’ room” provided by the hotel, overall the atmosphere is heart-warming. Especially with the huge full-height windows, the players are able to enjoy the spectacular Shanghai night scenery. In every players’ room, the hotel has also prepared towels with their names imprinted on it, this is continuing the tradition from year 2002; to let the players immediately have a feeling of “coming home”.

The players come to participate in the final Masters Cup tournament, of course they wouldn’t be traveling alone, each has their own entourage. Nadal, this big kid whom just turned 19, will be bringing along 11 relatives and friends and coach, while Davydenko will be bringing the smallest entourage which consist of 2 coaches, so the hotel also needs to provide lodging for the entourage. Accordingly, no matter how many people the players bring along, the hotel’s expenses will be fully paid by the Masters Cup committee.

Getting Around – Mercedes Benz & “Bodyguards”

The 9 singles players will each be assigned a designated Mercedes Benz at their beck and call, the drivers are responsible for transporting the players from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the stadium or to any destinations which the players desire to go. With regard to the doubles players, both will be assigned a designated Mercedes Benz, but this does not mean that the doubles players will be “tied up together” for traveling. A committee member said, “In principle they will travel to the stadium together, however if their destinations are different during the tournament, we will improvise by increasing the number of vehicles to satisfy their traveling needs.”

Wherever the players go, there will be burly bodyguards accompanying them, in the previous tennis tournaments held in Shanghai eg. Polo Open, the committee at many times engaged the services of “famous bodyguards” from Hong Kong and overseas to escort the star players, some star players even brought along their own “bodyguards”. However locals will be engaged for this year’s Masters Cup. It is confirmed that the Shanghai Masters Cup’s committee will not be engaging the services of foreign bodyguards, instead the services of Shanghai security company’s staff will be rendered, communication with the players will not be a problem as most them can converse in fluent English.

In reality, not every player will have bodyguards. The security’s main focus will be on the “star players” eg. Federer, Nadal, Hewitt, Roddick, Agassi, Safin etc. The doubles players will not even have bodyguards. This is good news for the fans whom wish to obtain their autographs.

Beside security personnel, this year’s Masters Cup have also specially created “Players’ Service” category for the players and their entourage. The personnel participating in this category will be spilt into 2 small groups, 1 group will be stationed at the hotel, the other at the stadium responsible for their welfare and tournament updates. Some personnel will have a designated location, eg along corridor of the players’ lounge to provide the players with tournament updates and to attend to their requests at the stadium, while some personnel will be moving around according to the players’ traveling plans. For example, the players or their girlfriends, parents and friends want to shop, visit Shanghai’s places of interest; the personnel will accompany them to shop or as a tour guide. Accordingly, these personnel will comprise of foreigners or locals with a strong grasp in English whom be temporarily employed for the tournament.

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Masters Cup’s Entourage: Nadal’s The Biggest Group
Agassi Without His Beloved Wife Graf

It is also interesting to take a look at the players’ entourage. Among the 8 confirmed singles players, Nadal whom will be arriving today in Shanghai has the biggest entourage. This 19 year big kid can’t wait to “move” all his relatives and friends to Shanghai to cheer him on, this trip also provides a rare opportunity for them to travel together, to soak in this cosmopolitan city, Shanghai.

This May, Nadal’s parents were touring Shanghai when he participated in the French Open. It may be due to their good impression from Shanghai that infected Nadal to bring a big entourage of 12 including himself. Beside his parents whom are among the entourage, there’s also Uncle Toni (whom recently criticized the surface which is not suitable to Nadal’s playing style), agent, and a group of his friends.

Second on the entourage list is Federer, including himself, his girlfriend, mother, sister, coach, trainer, physiotherapist, agent and 2 friends, all should fill up a car nicely. They have different arrivals though, yesterday Federer was accompanied by his girlfriend only.

Among the players, the “loneliest” would be first-time Masters Cup qualifier, Russia’s Davydenko, according to the current committee’s news, 2 coaches will be accompanying him. While Roddick, Hewitt and Agassi’s entourage are much more "compact", inclusive of the players themselves, Roddick’s 4 person, Hewitt’s 5 person, the Australian wild rabbit kept his tradition in big tournaments by bringing his parents along. Agassi will be accompanied by only 3, his wife, Steffi Graf’s not one of them.

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Nadal Played At Least 119 Matches Tough To Defeat World No. 1 On Hard Court

Nadal’s the only Masters Cup player whom defeated Federer this season, and is leading their face-offs by 2 matches to 1, his 79 matches’ victory also surpassed Federer whom’s at the top of ATP ranking. However, Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni, recently criticized the court surface of Shanghai Masters Cup, from another point of view, it shows that Nadal’s not confident of defeating Federer on hard court.

With his strong physique, 19 year old Nadal has participated in 23 tournaments this season, his tournaments’ participation is second to Russian’s Davydenko. If inclusive his 27 doubles matches and a conservative estimate of Nadal playing in 3 matches in Shanghai, then this year he would have at least played 119 matches.

This season, Nadal and Federer have each won 8 Masters Series tournaments, both withdrew from the last Masters Series tournament in Paris, but both have practically won all this season’s Master Series, a record that is hard to break.

“ATP should take some measures, after a month of indoor tournaments in Europe, the Masters Cup finals should be held on a outdoor court with medium speed, the players will not be able to adjust to this type of fast court in Shanghai within a short time.” Toni’s speech seems to have the underlying meaning that he has no confidence in his nephew’s performance.

Actually Nadal prefers clay courts, among the 11 titles he won this year, he only has 3 hard court titles: Montreal Masters, China Open and Madrid Masters, “I think I have a lot more techniques to perfect, I need a playing style which will be suitable for all types of court surfaces.” To Nadal, there’s nothing meaningful to win the year end Masters Cup, he needs time to hone up his skills. Now, everybody’s concerned whether Nadal will defeat Federer in Shanghai: in Miami’s Nadsaq final, he was leading by 2 sets but failed to capitalize on match point and in the end Federer fought back and won; while in Roland Garros, the unstoppable Nadal defeated Federer by 3 sets to 1 before evening time in Paris. This was also the last match Federer lost in this season.

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”

So far, this is the only site with updates on Nadal's arrival. Nadal's pretty jet-lag...

Translation:-
Article from sports163.com

2005-11-08 22:36:47
sports163.com special correspondent: Jin Nan

Tennis Stars Arrive: No One To Welcome Coria Crowd Welcome For Nadal

On the evening of 8th November, Shanghai's Pudong International Airport's Arrival Hall. On the arrival list, flight UX095 from Madrid has landed 50 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. However, a group of media and fans were already there awaiting for Nadal's arrival.

Nadal's the 4th player to arrive for this year's Masters Cup. Earlier on, Coria made a quiet arrival. Volunteers at the airport were furious at the media for not giving Coria the same treatment as Nadal. 1 university student said: "Coria's so upset, there's not even a journalist or a fan present. He's upset."

However, the media did not received the treatment they expected from Nadal. In contrast, when this big kid stepped out, he immediately looked down. While making his exit, he never smiled or made any comments, he looked upset. A lot of media were fielding questions at him within these few seconds, Nadal didn't looked back and answered his fellow countryman whom was behind him - a Spanish journalist's questions.

Nadal was visibly tired after the long flight, he wore a Boss white short sleeve t-shirt with khaki cargo pants and the striking bright red track shoes were extremely eye-catching. His luggage was very simple; a Babolat racket bag, a big black Nike sling bag and a backpack.

His famous uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, was beside him. Toni was a bit surprised after being recognised by the Chinese media. He told the media as Nadal's currently nursing his knee injury, it will not be an easy task for him to defeat Federer. Toni's worried that the court surface in Shanghai will only spell trouble for his nephew. When a journalist asked Nadal for his views on the court surface, Nadal replied: "I'm not familiar with this court, I will try my best to play well in every match." Nadal's entourage is the biggest for this tournament, those whom arrived today are only the first group. Nadal's entourage - his family members will arrive in Shanghai on Saturday.

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”

I hope that Rafael does well in China because I read (on the Tennis Talk Warehouse messageboard) that Toni and Rafa does not like the surface that the YEC will be played on. It will be played on a surface called Gerflor and it doesn't suit his game. Gerflor is a fast carpet surface that isn't forgiving to players that have topsin shots (This is what I learned from reading messageboard, I am sure how accurate this statement is).

Vamos RAFANA in China
(I hope that Rafa hooks up with Ana Ivanovic, I think they would make a cute couple.)

Mariska Magdolina Hargitay (aka Detective Olivia Benson)
Law & Order: Special Victims UnitWinner of the 2006 Emmy Award for Oustanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesWinner of the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama Future Winner of the 2008 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Nadal’s flight UX95 was earlier by 35 minutes, he spent almost an hour clearing immigration. The rumored entourage was not as big as expected, beside the famous Uncle Toni, there wasn’t any sign of Nadal’s family. Nadal’s parents will only arrive on Saturday as they are currently holidaying in Vietnam.

This is Nadal’s first trip to this city, to show the importance of this trip, he got a new hairstyle and also changed from his A/X white t-shirt into a short-sleeve Boss shirt on board. Nadal whom was 20 metres away from the departure gate, began waving at the crowd, however when he pushed out his luggage cart and faced the crowd, he looked down shyly. It was only when there were continuous shouts of “Rafa, Rafa”, he looked up embarrassedly and smiled.

Raul’s Gift Of Football Jersey As Spaniard’s Good-Luck Charm

This trip is of great importance to all Spainards as this is Nadal’s first Masters Cup tournament in his career. Spain’s golden boy, Raul, rushed over to send off this new Spaniard hero before Nadal boarded the flight. Raul also gave Nadal a Spain's national football jersey with “NADALEK” imprinted on the back; it means “Invincible Nadal”.

A lot of local media were also rushing to send him off at the airport. Nadal donned a knitted shirt as Madrid’s weather is cooler than Shanghai’s. When 1 after another microphone was shoved in front of him, this teenager began to look dignified. His coach, Uncle Toni, was not optimistic about his nephew playing well due to the indoor court surface.

After Nadal stepped out from the departure gate, this was also the first question being asked. “Rafa, what are your expectations for this trip to Shanghai?” Before he could open his mouth to reply, a group of Spanish media beside him answered on his behalf by shouting, “Champion Champion, certainly the Champion!” Nadal just smiled.

Even though bodyguards and ATP’s representative were absent, language is still the only link to communicate with this Spaniard. Before him, English’s discriminated, only Spanish’s effective. A journalist was communicating with Nadal in Spanish and at the end an important piece of news was delivered: Nadal’s still nursing his injury. “He said he has not recovered fully from his knee injury, he’s not very optimistic about this tournament.”

Friendly Uncle Toni

Nadal and his practice partner (we Rafa fans all know is Tomeu Salva) were soon seated inside the Mercedes-Benz; his practice partner’s around Nadal’s age, he’s believed to be Nadal’s best friend. The main purpose of bringing him to Shanghai was to let him see the world. The Mercedes-Benz stopped at the entrance for a few minutes and cameras were flashing non-stop at the tinted windows. Throughout this process, a middle-aged man leaning on a luggage cart was relishing in the sight in front of him, looking on with amusement at the interactions between Nadal and the media. When the car sped off and we turned back, this man winked and grinned.
“Are you his friend or relative?” Obviously, he did not understand the question but muttered back, “Ah, you are his friend, very good.” Looks like his English’s standard is on par with Nadal’s, “What’s your name?” This time, he understood, “Toni, I’m Toni.” So this is where the famous Uncle Toni is.

Toni’s Nadal’s uncle and also his coach. He’s the biggest catalyst to Nadal’s career, always by his side through thick and thin. Not long ago, this great uncle blasted at ATP because the Masters Cup court’s unfavorable to his nephew. However when this legendary figure appeared in front of you, he’s actually very friendly and will reply in stammering English every question about his nephew.

“Those whom arrived today are his friends and the media, not 1 single family member has arrived, they will be flying in on Saturday. Nadal will play at his best for this tournament even though he’s having problems with his knees.” He further added, “Rafa, he’s a bit shy, wait till you get to know him, it will be different.”

A 19 year old big kid’s disarray is noticeable on Nadal, although his ranking rose up to No. 2 on the ATP ranking, but after the car door opens, Nadal leaned over to the front seat to search for his MP3 player and after stuffing it into his pocket, when he’s about to alight, he suddenly recalled he left his jacket behind at the backseat. He went back inside the car, grabbed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. After rubbing his head, he turned back for another glance to confirm that he did not left anything left and finally a cheerful smile appeared on his face.

Flight UX95 was delayed by half an hour (we know this is not true), it was already past 9pm when Nadal appeared at Hilton Hotel. Previous reports claimed that Nadal would be bringing his parents, uncle/coach, agent and a group of 11 friends to Shanghai, however there was no sight of his parents last night. The security personnel sent by the hotel was the largest in number, even more security personnel than Federer’s arrival, ATP and the hotel respectively prepared 2 bouquets of flowers. Actually, only 3 media companies were present last night, however it was like a war zone at the hotel, 3 burly security personnel blocked the entrance and only allowed the media inside when Nadal’s about to step inside the lift. Then there were also security checks, then after passing through the tight security and rushing over to Nadal, the Spaniard was about to take the lift.
A journalist asked, “Do you have any confidence in winning your 12th title for this season, surpassing Federer?” A friendly Nadal turned his head and smiled brightly, “No, you cannot ask questions in the hotel, you can submit your application to the committee for an interview.” An ATP foreign female staff stepped out and urged Nadal to take the lift. However, Nadal stopped in his tracks, “I very much hope so......”

The Spaniard’s English was okay, he only blurted out a sentence after thinking for a while and the staff pushed him into the lift without waiting for him to complete his sentence, “25th floor.” Only 1 foreign journalist was allowed inside Nadal’s room for photography, the rest were all confined in the lobby.

At this moment, it was only discovered that, both the hotel’s and ATP committee’s bouquets were not given to Nadal, “Hurry go up to the 25th floor and present the bouquets to Nadal.” The girl was then shoved into the lift. Nadal didn’t managed to receive the bouquets, then let’s anticipate he will receive the Masters Cup trophy.

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Coria Defeated By Nadal 3 times: Defeating Him Is Like Defeating Everyone

Maybe it was a coincidence, Nadal whom was supposed to arrive on 7.11.2005, only arrived last night and checked in on the same day with Argentine’s “Prince Of Clay Court”. Coria arrived at the hotel at 10.30am, “I know Rafael (Nadal) will also arrive today, I will be going for my practice session in the afternoon, I hope to defeat him.”

At 8.29pm, half an hour earlier before Nadal arrived at the hotel, a sweaty Coria clad in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, stepped out from the Mercedes-Benz after completing his first practice session in Shanghai. Following behind him were his coach and assistant coach both lugging bags and tennis rackets, “Oh, that court’s not bad, I have only seen this mysterious stadium from photos but tonight, I witnessed it with my own eyes. I like the lightings.”

Compared to the other players’ physiques, Coria whose only 1.75m look tiny. Clad in a black shirt, he look like a normal tourist when he checked in yesterday morning. He look like a boy-next-door whom just completed his workout at night wearing sports attire. There was no bouquets, fans, not even camera flashes. Compared to the other players whom arrived, Coria has been given the cold treatment but do not doubt his ambition, “I do not want to rake up the past again.” Coria whom appears to be bitter about being defeated by Nadal 3 times in Rome, China Open and Monte Carlo, “I want to defeat him in Shanghai, defeat everyone.”

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”

Looks like Nadal's entourage is getting bigger and bigger as the day goes by??

Excerpts from the article:-
Sports.sohu.com
9.11.2005

Nadal: Both Knees Are Wounded

The popularity of this 19 year old Spaniard is hot on the heels of Agassi. Nadal’s apparently prepared to be hounded by the press. Pushing 2 big luggages, Nadal walked on and looked straight without any expression. When microphones were being shoved in his face, he didn't even listened to the questions and just replied in Spanish. After that, he did not care whether you understood his answers. When the questions were fielded in English, he will occasionally muttered a few English words, pieced it together, pondered over it and then roughly know what he wants to express: “First time to Shanghai, first time in Masters Cup, very happy.”

High hopes are pinned on him. Looking at the current circumstances, he’s the only 1 who will be a tough opponent for Federer in the Masters Cup. Does he has the determination to defeat Federer?

He shook his head, Nadal actually shook his head vigorously. “I’m still feeling pain in my left knee, my right knee’s not feeling good too but I will try my very best. The opponents are all very strong, whoever I face, not just Federer.” Young but not headstrong, Nadal didn't care whether the press were disappointed anot.

Horrible Court? Older Nadal Defending himself

Accordingly, Nadal will be bringing an entourage of 20 people. However, only 2 accompanied Nadal and both are “Nadals” (Huh??). Both are his uncles. There will be more “Nadals” arriving because Rafa has 4 uncles and a big troop of relatives.

When the press mentioned his past comments (his complaints about the surface), Toni was uneasy. He didn’t know a slip of his tongue would caused him to be hounded by the press. “What I wanted to say was, Nadal’s not used to playing on this type of hard court, that’s all. This has nothing to do with Shanghai, really, I meant no harm.” Tony looked on innocently.

When asked if the court will affect his serve? Nadal replied as he stepped into the Mercedes-Benz: “I will have to take a look at it tomorrow before making any further comments.”

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”

Nadal pushed his trolley and only used his broken English to answer 2 questions ie. “Training tomorrow” and “Knee injured ”. Finally, before he stepped inside the car, the journalist asked the last question: “What are your chances for the Masters Cup?” Nadal answered without hesitation: “I will try my very best.” The unsatisfied Spanish media began chanting, “Champion”, “Champion”, “We are the Champion!”

With regard to the draw which will be held this afternoon, he’s not a bit concerned: “It doesn’t matter to me which team I am in and who I will face in the first round.” Nadal’s nonchalant because Federer’s not the only opponent for the Masters Cup title but also the other 7 players. “The Masters Cup tournament’s really very tough, it’s tough as others will treat you as a very strong opponent and at this moment they will become very strong and difficult to handle.” But since Nadal already said he will be trying his very best, let us cheer him on.

Nadal Clan Out In Full Force As Entourage Of 20 Coming To Shanghai

Nadal’s on his way to the hotel, Uncle Toni and Nadal’s friend are still waiting for their transport. The journalist made use of the opportunity and interviewed the famous Uncle Toni. “Rafa’s left knee has not recovered, his practice sessions last week were not too good.” Toni’s apparently concerned about Nadal’s prospects in the Masters Cup, as to whether he can defeat the Federer whom had an operation recently and in the process of recovery, Toni firmly said: “Impossible.”

Thereafter Toni began to reiterate his theory: “The Masters Cup are held on hard court, a big disadvantage to Rafa (Nadal). Plus his knee injury, I don’t expect him to win the title.” With regard to his uncle’s comments on the surface, Nadal replied nonchalantly: “Heard that it’s a very fast court, I have to see it myself.”

Even though his “eighth characters” (an asian version of fortune-telling based on one’s date and time of birth) clashed with the court, Nadal treat this trip as his year-end holiday, he’s really bringing his whole clan over: Uncle Toni explained, “Nadal’s entourage’s not 3 or 4 person nor 12 as previously reported but a total of 20 of them. Nadal’s parents whom love to travel visited Shanghai in May, this Saturday they will be leading the entourage, currently both of them are on vacation in Vietnam. Nadal will also be returning to Mallorca for a well-deserved rest after the Masters Cup.

Djokovic after his Madrid 2009 Semi with Rafa: “Next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point and try to hit with both of them. It’s frustrating that when you play so well you can’t win.”